sight first one, no two, no three offset casts – which themselves were set into the ground thigh deep. And it was only when walking upon the first to examine the cast up close and personal, then the second, then the third, that we started to see yet others set about at what
seemed differing heights, extending away from Houghton Hall in what was a wide symmetrical swath of lawn lined by trees on each side that receded into the distance.
Yet, here again, it was only when walking out into the unmanicured grounds to take a photo back at the Hall itself that another cast revealed itself, standing to our right, amidst red leaves looking toward a corner constructed by two lines of trees coming together at a 90-degree angle. We had first missed it by not looking to our left as we entered the front lawn, being more focused on that which was immediately presented before us. It was as if the latter experience was reminding us to be more
conscious of our surroundings. An interesting perspective to bring as the design of the enclosure delivered us naturally up the stairs and into the house itself, whose interior caused us to ‘interrogate the surface of things’ in a much different way.
(For more specific visuals of and interesting commentary on the rooms within Houghton Hall, please see the accompanying photographs in the article profiling Magdalene Odundo, a Kenya-born artist who was also exhibiting at Houghton Hall.)
It was, in fact, only upon leaving the upper floor of rooms and descending a staircase to reach the lower level of the house, that we encountered the cast which served as the datum for all the other casts. Buried up to just below the waist, the cast looked out upon the manicured lawn and parkway previously mentioned. But more interestingly, one could look over the right shoulder to see yet another cast set in the long but dry natural grass of the field behind the Hall. It created an enticement
to leave the formalism of the house so to revisit Nature – the natural – itself. Once again, we found ourselves playing – and being played – by the figures who sat within the surface of things sometimes up to their neck.
The Grounds Backside of Houghton Hall
Looking out into the dry tan grass behind Houghton, we were immediately struck by the number of casts buried up to their torsos if not necks. The reason for their being subsumed by the landscape was reasonable: the grounds rose behind the Hall, moving upward to the horizon in the far distance. This inclined landscape mimicked the one in the front of the Hall, though this one was in no way as manicured or green. Here at the back of the house, you felt you were in Nature, and the house and its grounds were the intruders.
But again, the “players” started playing with us. When turning back around to look at the Hall, a person first saw a single cast set amongst some trees. Then looking beyond the more immediate grove, there was yet another and another situated in and around the grove. And beyond that, a small opening of grass where several others would reveal themselves. It was as if they were prodding us to align them in relation, so to set up a great photo. But each time we tried, the ground rose or fell and/or trees got in the way. In experiencing their placement, we were experiencing the surface and what sat upon it. We, like the players, were
Gormley says the “iron men are not statutes but players,” which have been placed on the ground to “interrogate the surface of things.” His argument being: this ‘reinforces contemplative awareness in the viewer.’
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